Archive for month: May, 2009

When I first saw this press release below from B’nai Brith in Canada, “‘York University conference questioning Israel’s right to exist an exercise in anti-Zionist propaganda,'” I was sure they were exaggerating.

Well I checked out the speakers list and the website and it clearly is one of the most absurd conferences on the subject possible. Check out the website and see for yourself. This line on the website is telling: The conference seeks to systematically measure the two state model against the promise of alternatives; very specifically the potential in the model of a single bi-national state.

Bi-national, my friends is a sanitized way of saying – no more Israel. As even Uri Averny wrote (a far-left wing Israeli writer and activist):

A bi-national state means the abandonment of this aim, and, in practice, the dismantling of Israel itself. The Jews would return to the traumatic experience of a people without a state throughout the world, with all that that implies. And not as a result of a crushing military defeat, but as a free choice. Not ve

ry likely

So what does York hope to achieve? To further and further isolate Israel as a pariah and illegitimate state. No Bi-National state exists in the world that has succeeded.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
‘York University conference questioning Israel’s right to exist an exercise
in anti-Zionist propaganda,’ says B’nai Brith Canada

TORONTO, May 22, 2009 – B’nai Brith Canada has characterized as a “blatant
exercise in anti-Zionist propaganda” the upcoming June conference at York
University titled, Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths
to Peace. The Jewish human rights organization also expressed particular
concern over a recent statement by York University President Mamdouh Shoukri
who insisted that the conference will continue to form part of the
University’s publicly advertised 50th anniversary celebrations. Read more

http://rabbiyonah.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cropped-RabbiYonahbookCover11.jpg00rabbiyonahhttp://rabbiyonah.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cropped-RabbiYonahbookCover11.jpgrabbiyonah2009-05-24 19:04:522009-05-24 19:04:52York University Event Promotes The End of Israel

Imagine walking on a campus past buildings where you have taken numerous classes with many peers, past the Student Center where you have eaten lunch many times, past all the familiar places where you have felt safe and accepted. Now imagine walking by those same places and seeing blood-stained flags of a nation that is part of your identity. Posters with “anti-hate = anti-Israel” and “Stop Israeli Genocide” parade in front of you. Displays surround you with images of cruel IDF soldiers, dead Gazans, Anne Frank — a symbol of Jewish tragedy — wearing a kaffiyeh, and of Israel’s barrier to protect Jews from terrorism, labeled an “apartheid wall.” It is as if everything Israel and Jews ever stood for is racism, bloodshed and war. You are a Jew; a proud Jew, a proud supporter of Israel. Now you are seen as nothing but a racist murderer on your own campus.

When I first walked onto campus and saw the Israeli flag blowing in the wind, ripped and blood-stained, I was filled with anger, sadness, and helplessness. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, “These are lies. This is disgusting!” I didn’t scream, but I trembled with rage at the Muslim Student Union (MSU), and even more, at the UCI administration for standing by as their students are humiliated, chewed up and spit out, and depicted almost as animals.

Anyone who knows Israel’s history knows of its challenges, triumphs and mistakes. I refuse to accept vicious propaganda that demonizes Israel. I refuse to accept desecration of cherished symbols of Jewish identity. I recognize that freedom of speech entails freedom to preach hate, lies and prejudice, but I am repulsed. The MSU depicts the suffering caused by Israel’s recent war with Hamas, but it never acknowledges the reasons for Israel’s actions, the suffering of Israelis, Hamas’ goal to destroy Israel, or the tactics Hamas used, such as human shields, that raised the civilian toll. I, along with Israelis and the Jewish world, grieve for the innocent civilians who died. Why doesn’t the MSU show equal concern for Jewish fears and suffering? Could they share Hamas’ view that whenever an Israeli man, woman, or child is killed, it should be cause for celebration and passing out candy?

I have been told to censor myself so that potential students are not afraid to come to UCI, but I have had enough censorship. With truth comes power, not fear. The MSU’s hate is dangerous. I have been in Jewish private schools since second grade and I have always been taught that hatred is wrong. I know that Israelis are taught not to hate Arabs, and that Jewish national identity demands equal protection for Muslim religious identity. I know that UCI’s Jewish students never even thought of retaliating with a weeklong campaign of “The World Without Mecca” or “Palestinian Nationalism=Islamic Terrorism and Racism.” Then I came to UCI, and found that my fear of hatred was more than justified. At UCI, hate is a yearly event that lasts for a week. It isn’t just any hatred. It is hatred directed at me, my friends, my community and my history.

After my three years at UCI, you would think I would be desensitized, and could just ignore the MSU’s “apartheid wall.” But I stand for more than that. I am standing up for all the Jews in past generations who did their best to uphold our religion and protect our people. I am standing up for all who understand and support the State of Israel as one of the most extraordinary achievements of the Jewish people.

I am not asking the UCI administration to censor the hate speech. I am asking them to denounce this style of rhetoric and displays just as they would denounce campaigns for white supremacy, sexism, or Islamophobia. I am asking them to be as fearful of countenancing hatred as I was taught to be, not just because of its present impact, but because of what it bodes for the future.

Ken Loach accuses Israel of state terrorism, massacres. He convinces the Edinburgh Film Festival to return 300 pounds that the Israeli’s had provided to the festival to support the festival bringing an Israeli filmmaker. The film’s subject matter? Love. Some up-and-coming Israeli filmmaker is the latest victim of the lunacy of Ken Loach.Hollywood beware – Ken Loach is a raving anti-Israel maniac. Don’t buy his crappy films at Cannes.

Loach wants to Boycott Israel? Ok, Let’s boycott Ken Loach. Boycott his new film Looking For Eric. Boycott his old films. Post negative reviews of his films on Amazon, Netflix, on DVD sites. Let Ken Loach’s films rot on the shelves. Don’t fund his future films. Does he have a star on the Walk of Fame? Does anyone know?

Cultural terrorist Ken Loach needs to see that “every action has a reaction,” as Bob Marley ZZ”L has said.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival on Tuesday returned a 300-pound grant from the Israeli embassy, after bowing to pressure from director Ken Loach, the British Times reported on Wednesday.

The grant was intended to enable Tel Aviv University graduate Tali Shalom Ezer to travel to Scotland for a screening of her film, Surrogate.

According to the Times, Ezer’s film is a romance set in a sex-therapy clinic, and makes no reference to war or politics. It recently won the award for best film at an international women’s film festival in Israel.

Loach on Monday urged film goers to boycott the festival after pro-Palestinian activists protested the grant for the Israeli film. Loach has long been an outspoken critic of Israel and its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.

“The massacres and state terrorism in Gaza make this money unacceptable,” the Times quoted Loach as saying. “With regret, I must urge all who might consider visiting the festival to show their support for the Palestinian nation and stay away.”